If the first edition of this book shall be received with such favor as to warrant the issuing of a second one, I shall, if it be found necessary, take the time and pains to supply in it such omissions as appear to be made in this one. If it be found necessary, I say; for I am inclined to opine that ere long,--judging from a "view of the field" that I have lately taken, and after witnessing there the many delightful evidences of musical love and culture,--that ere long neither such lists as this, nor just such books as this, will be considered as necessary. Nevertheless, the writer requests all who are interested in the more general cultivation of music by the people to send him such names as have been here left out, together with all facts that may additionally illustrate the subject treated in these pages; all names and statements to be accompanied by as strong confirmation as can possibly be procured. These will be published in case other editions of the book are issued. It is hoped that the persons here mentioned, on seeing that their present achievements in art are regarded as of so much value in indicating the aesthetic taste and musical capacity of their race, may be impelled thereby to put forth even greater efforts, and to thus attain to that still higher state of usefulness and distinction, which, it is believed, their talents and present accomplishments show is quite possible. In the city of Boston, which is the acknowledged great art centre of this country, the amplest facilities for the study of music are afforded. There the doors of conservatories and other music schools, among the finest of any in the world, are thrown open to _all_; the cost of admission being, considering the many advantages afforded, quite moderate. A love of the "divine art" pervades all classes in Boston; and there the earnest student and the skilful in music, of whatever race he may be, receives ready recognition and full encouragement. It is, in fact, almost impossible for one to live in that city of melody, and not become either a practical musician, or at least a lover of music. It need not, then, be a matter of surprise that so many of the most finely-educated artists mentioned in this book are found to have been residents of the city mentioned. Affected by its all-pervading, its infectious, so to say, musical spirit, they eagerly embraced the many opportunities offered for culture; and their noble achievements are only such as would have been made by others of the same race residing in other sections of the country, had the latter enjoyed there (as, alas! mostly on account of the depressing, the vile spirit of caste that prevailed, they did not) the same advantages as the former. * * * * *